After five years, Gina Kim has finally solved the Pinehurst riddle. It couldn’t have come at a better time, considering that this week’s Women’s North & South Amateur may have been Kim’s summer-amateur swan song.
The 21-year-old’s week-long crusade to the iconic Putter Boy trophy awarded at the long-running amateur event at Pinehurst No. 2 played out in phases. She barely made the match-play bracket – advancing out of a 10-for-8 playoff just to get the 32nd and last spot on the bracket against medalist Abbey Daniels.
Then, with no expectations, she watched closely as Daniels deftly navigated her way through sandy No. 2.
“She knew how to make up out of those waste areas, it was amazing the way she used those slopes,” Kim said. “I learned a lot form her. . . . It was actually a really tough battle to get out on top because she was doing so well and playing such solid golf.”
Kim has a similar story about every opponent she faced through the week. Catching Addie Baggarly in the next round “was the unluckiest draw” because the two are such good friends.
By the time she reached the semifinals, she had to face Allisen Corpuz, a finalist at this event last year.
“She’s had a great track record over there,” Kim said. “I, on the other hand, have not. Getting into match play was a miracle for me.
“Getting to the semifinals was one thing, having to face Allison was another.”
Regardless, Kim took down Corpuz, 6 and 4, and suddenly had a Saturday afternoon match against Furman’s Anna Morgan for the title.
The Championship Match of 119th Women’s North & South Amateur has a Carolinas feel to it – @DukeWGOLF star Gina Kim vs. @FurmanWGolf and Carolinas Am Champ Anna Morgan on Pinehurst No. 2.
We’ll have updates in this thread throughout the match, which begins at 12:45 p.m. pic.twitter.com/yjdCWgJPzh
— Pinehurst Resort (@PinehurstResort) July 17, 2021
In the brutally hot Sandhills, the seven-round North & South is an endurance event. That, and Kim got a 3 a.m. wakeup call each day from a train that rolled by the condos she and her mom stayed in by Pinehurst No. 3. When Kim and Morgan were evacuated for the first weather delay, Kim got so comfortable on a couch that she closed her eyes for a short snooze. She was so deep in sleep she’s not even sure how long that nap lasted – only that it could have gone on much longer.
“If somebody wasn’t there with me,” she said, “I would still be there snoozing, just gone.”
When the match was halted for weather a second time, Kim came off the course before hitting a difficult chip on No. 7. She knew she had that waiting for her but she relished it.
“For me, I was like, ‘I want this chip,’” she said, “because I know I can do it. I can make this work.”
In facing that return shot, Kim drew on a memory from earlier this summer at the Palmer Cup. Kim was paired with Walker Cup hero Pierceson Coody in the opening mixed fourball session and they were 2 down through nine holes to Julian Perico and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, who were “firing on all cylinders, going ham and egg on us.”
A weather delay also paused that match, and when Kim and Coody returned to the course, Kim told her partner she could feel it in their bones they were going to win.
“We ended up taking it to the 18th hole and Pierceson makes this unreal eagle putt,” she said.
They won, 1 up.
At Pinehurst, Kim tied that seventh hole before winning the next three holes. She eventually closed out Morgan, 3 and 1.
Kim would like nothing more than to play on the Curtis Cup later this fall, the women’s equivalent to the Walker Cup. She has already been selected for two practice sessions for team hopefuls, and this week’s North & South run should have left a big impression on team selectors. Kim was very aware that this would be a good time to show what she can do. Instead of playing next month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur, Kim will head to California to prepare for LPGA Q-School later this year. In fact, she won’t appear in a women’s amateur field again this summer.
“I knew this tournament would really swing things in my favor if things go well,” Kim said. “I think that was the no. 1 thing that was on my priority list. It’s every amateur golfer’s dream to make the Curtis Cup or the Walker Cup. These tournaments are just so prestigious.”
It was a short drive home for Kim after claiming her trophy late on Saturday evening because of two weather delays. She grew up just 60 miles northeast in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Even though she won the tournament, there were debts to pay when she got home. Kim had convinced her mom, Sansuk, to caddie for her this week, but there was a catch.
“We made a deal that if I get mad at her, I would have to pay $50,” Gina said. “Even though I won this tournament I actually lost some money.”
She confessed the final total was $100, but it’s a small caddie fee to pay for an unforgettable week.
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